Mapping Hacks

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Preface

reflected in thousands of little Geoscopes, potentially a Geoscope in every

home and on every computing device, all interconnected to each other and

to the real world in real time. The ultimate goal is nothing less than the fol-

lowing, in Fuller’s own words:

Think of it. We are blessed with technology that would be indescribable to

our forefathers. We have the wherewithal, the know-it-all to feed everybody,

clothe everybody, and give every human on Earth a chance. We know now

what we could never have known before—that we now have the option for

all humanity to make it successfully on this planet in this lifetime. Whether it

is to be Utopia or Oblivion will be a touch-and-go relay race right up to the

final moment. (Fuller, Critical Path, 1980)

With hope for the eventual achievement of the bright outcome of his vision,

we respectfully dedicate this work to the memory of R. Buckminster Fuller,

and his unflagging commitment to the good of all humanity.

The Adventure Continues...

Honestly, the field of digital cartography is moving faster today than print

media can keep up with! This book, which took unusually long to develop

because of the complexity of the subject, witnessed quite a few exciting

changes which we and the editorial staff at O’Reilly scrambled to keep up

with. In particular, the underlying substrate of spatial projection and data-

base libraries available as open source ...